The Canadian Unitarian Council believes that staff work needs to be compensated with fair living wages which include real-time costs of living. Resources provided by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) offer guidance to congregations on compensating all staff within the salary range of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Salary Recommendations. Not all of it translates well to congregations in Canada. However, the emphasis on process and values is definitely useful in Canadian contexts.

Recommended Resources

• Geo Index Listing for Canadian Congregations 2025-26
• Guidance on setting salaries may be found on the Congregational Salary Program page on the UUA website. In particular, the Salary Process Guidance has a lot of good information about salary philosophy. You might be especially interested in the Values-Based Polices and Practices checklist on pages 4-5.
• The UUA Church Staff Finances group partners with volunteers who help in specialized areas. We sre fortunate to have Barry Coburn supporting Canadian congregations as a Compensation Consultant. He can be reached at   compconsultca@uua.org.
• For congregations considering a contract arrangement with a minister, Canada Revenue Agency’s guidelines on “Employee or Self-Employed?” provides valuable information about your congregation’s employment relationship with your minister.